Sunday, December 8, 2013

Inside Llewyn Davis

Co-Writers/Co-Directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside
Llewyn Davis is an exploration of the Greenwich Village folk singer
scene in 1961, focusing on a week in the life of one of them.

First off, Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel brings out images
of the era with his usual mastery, Production Designer Jess Gonchor and Art
Director Deboreh Jensen provide a true feeling of the time and Costume Designer
Mary Zohphres is spot-on with the clothing.Altogether, we’re given a true picture of the early-‘60s. And, T-Bone Burnett's Music Production is sterling, providing the sound of the era.

Oscar Isaac as Llewyn, along with Cary Mulligan and Justin
Timberlake as his friends, are admirably directed by the Coens and all turn in admirable
performances.

The question I have is, “Why?”Why this lame story and what is it
about?

We’re treated to a talented, but stupid character, who,
other than having a good voice, does little to make us care about him.

And, what trials is he put through?Leaving the apartment of friends, who let him
sleep over, their cat escapes.While
catching it, Llewyn is locked out.Instead
of going to the Superintendent of the building that has a live elevator operator, he ends up carrying the
cat with him and foisting it on his friends and, then, allows it to escape
again.This is the stuff of a television
sitcom, not a Coen movie as I’ve known them.

Llewyn bounces through several other nonsensical scenes
to further prove he’s a loser until, finally, a scene that starts the film is
repeated as its ending.The point?It’s beyond me.Are we to think he’s caught in loop of
repeating idiocy.Has the film been a
flashback?Or, did the Coens just give
up on an ending to their story or realize they had none?

What amazes me is the response of Critics and Reviewers,
who see no problem here and are pouring on the accolades.It reminds me of last year’s The
Master disaster (reviewed 9/16/12).I guess you can fool some of the people all of the
time.

I must say, the theater was full and the audience was
polite, i.e., no texting was happening.Perhaps, however, they were as stupefied as I was.At one point in the film, a policeman taps on the car window of the
dozing Llewyn.I was thankful to the
character as the act brought me out of my
stupor.

At one point, F. Murray Abraham as a music manager comments after Llewyn's audition, "I don't see much money here." I didn't see much excitement here. And, I noticed there was no
applause at the end by anyone in the audience.

If you liked The Master, you’ll probably drink
the Kool-Aid on this one, but, in all good conscience, I can’t give Inside
Llewyn Davis more than a 3 out of 5.

About Me

Brian Porzak: I am a cinephile who likes to view films with a live audience. My taste runs the gamut, including indies, studio films, foreign films and most all genres. Because I see so many films, friends often ask me what to see. So, I thought I'd blog about what is worth seeing or not. As a writer/filmmaker myself, I hope to give a more uplifting perspective than the typical critic. Filmmaking is tremendously difficult. Just because some problems might exist in a particular work does not, necessarily, destroy its enjoyability and I think that is necessary to point out to would-be viewers.
See www.Aix-en-Film.com